Sandra Magdaleno

Introduction to Special Education 203

Philosophy Paper

Thur December 01, 2022

 I want to be a teacher because of the inspiration some teachers have inflicted upon me

during my years as a student. It has taught me that I hope one day to inflict that same feeling.

The first time I really considered teaching was amidst the pandemic. All professors felt

lackluster. The exception was one professor who always put in her one hundred percent effort

and got involved and interacted with her class. She made it effortless and easy to pass such a

complicated course during such a hard time. I felt for the first time that if I was a teacher I’d

teach exactly how she did it. My lessons would aim not to just teach the basics of anything, but

rather teach to think and understand the implications of the lesson. “With progressive methods,

the priority is not to get the student to memorize facts but rather to understand the lessons.“

(Positive Impact, 2021) Students who learn to understand rather than to memorize are all being

taught something as it integrates all types of learning styles, disabilities, etc.

Being surrounded by students again in a classroom during my field observation has made

me realize that this same method is still great. As I realized the traditional method of teaching is

not appropriate for me. The class involved many students with IEPs and a lot of them were at

different levels and many weren't retaining the information that was lectured. In a progressive

teaching environment, a child “works less with structure and more with building opportunities

for the child to employ and develop critical thinking and individuality. “(Positive Impact, 2021)

Students are able to learn in their language and work with what makes them feel comfortable to

understand what is being taught better. This way every student gets a fair chance and that's what

I would want in my class.

Of all the benefits, I believe, progressivism provides it is my educational orientation.

Centering the idea of teaching not around me, the teacher, or my curriculum but rather the

individual students. A philosopher by the name of Alfred North Whitehead once said, “A merely
well-informed man is the most useless bore on God’s earth.” The idea that only facts and skills

matter is not completely true. It's the way these ideas are integrated providing context and

purpose to a lesson. I would want to create an interactive environment in the class and within

teaching. I believe people learn best through experiences and asking questions to further

understand a subject. “The point is not merely to challenge students—after all, harder is not

necessarily better—but to invite them to think deeply about issues that matter and help them

understand ideas from the inside out.” (Kohn) Especially children with IEPs, face many

challenges on their own. School can sometimes add to the challenge, so teaching in a way that

allows them to ask questions and ideas without being criticized is the best way for them to

understand. It works with all students, especially younger kids who already question everything

about the world.

Since progressivism, is taught to understand rather than to memorize it works better for

students to retain the information. Retention of information means more knowledge. I believe

that people create and build on their previous knowledge. Constructivism is a psychological

orientation that is based on the idea that knowledge is built upon previous knowledge. The way

of learning comes from meaning through activity and sensory input. Students should involve

themselves in their lessons and in the world in order to understand and obtain more

skills/knowledge. “Bachelard conceives of knowledge enhancement as a process of successive

“rectification” of errors, with each new piece of knowledge bringing solutions to the problems

faced by previous knowledge.” (Bachtold) Meaning that in order for one to understand

knowledge one must learn from past errors and reform and make their understanding correct.
 Some historical event that will reflect my work as a teacher as it has inspired me is the

Individual with Disabilities Act (IDEA) passed in 1975. Students with a disability should be

given an appropriate education, but that goes for anyone in my book. As a teacher, I will try my

best to create a proper lesson for any student. The No Child Left Behind also follows that same

idea, but I know my strengths, and if I were to let a child fall behind, I know when to

acknowledge my wrongdoings and when to take accountability if I were to ever fall short.

A hands-on, experimental, and physical approach is essential to me to have in my

approach to teaching students. It requires students to be more engaging and should make for a

more exciting learning environment. Engagement, as well as motivation, is key to keeping

students active in learning. I would plan lessons around students' interests and curiosities. It's a

more memorable way of teaching. As stated before, learning is built on previous experiences,

and knowledge stems from knowledge one already has.“Applying what they are learning to

real-life scenarios helps students fully grasp a subject and its applications as well as develop the

skills they will need as adults.” (Teaching Children, 2019) It's essential for me as the teacher to

ensure students are retaining what they have learned so they can later build on that knowledge.

There is only so much that can be done as a teacher to include all students in learning.

Being in a classroom setting again for my field observation, I notice a lot of students with

different skill sets, and each had their own interpretation of what was being taught. My way of

inclusivity upon all students' diversity/variability would be to encourage active learning.

“Children learn with and from one another in a caring community, and that’s true of moral as

well as academic learning.” (Kohn) Group work, discussions, and learning would be part of my

instructions. Being inclusive in a classroom means approaching teaching with different

strategies, so implementing small group activities/stations for different approaches to teaching a

particular subject would be a regular basis in my class. A test can be difficult and even more

depending on a student's needs/gaps. Having different test options is crucial to me, so all students

are given an equal opportunity. I will always be observing students and acknowledging their

needs. It's important to me to provide support and feedback when it is needed, there is comfort in

knowing that a student can approach me for help.

Before starting my path to becoming a teacher, I had never considered the complexity of

how young minds adapt, learn, and view the world from different perspectives. There is so much

needed to be taken into account when working with a bunch of children to ensure they all are

successful, but one thing I need to take away is not all students will satisfy the goal I will set for

them and that is okay as long as I try my best. As of now, im not aware of any skills I need to

learn, but there are certain ones I can work on, like patients, empathy, creativity, care,

presentation, etc. There is always something new that I can learn to become a better teacher

always, even when I am ten years in. As of now, I would want to continue working at a school,

hopefully volunteering, working as a substitute, or employment in a school, is something I want

to look forward to helping me engage in my career a little bit better and assert some skills before

I take the enormous challenge of running my own classroom.

 Work Cited

Bachtold, M. (2013). What Do Students 'Construct' According to Constructivism in Science

Education? Research in Science Education (Australasian Science Education Research

Association), 43(6), 2477-2496.

Kohn, A. (2015). Progressive Education: Why it's Hard to Beat, But Also Hard to Find. Bank

Street College of Education. Retrieved from https://educate.bankstreet.edu/progressive/2

The positive impact of Progressive Education. (2021, January 05). Retrieved December 1, 2022,

from https://www.allsaints.org/news-detail?pk=1388936

Progressive learning: Teaching children how to think: The school in rose valley. (2019, July 08).

Retrieved December 1, 2022, from

https://www.theschoolinrosevalley.org/progressive-learning/